II. PREACHING THE GOSPEL
A. In Power, in the Holy Spirit,
and in Much Assurance
In 1 Corinthians 2:4 Paul said, "My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." In 1 Thessalonians 1:5 he said, "Our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, even as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake."
[We all should learn that to preach the gospel we must preach in power, in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance. As we preach the gospel, we need to have the assurance that it is a saving gospel. The gospel we preach is able to save others. Before sinners can believe in the gospel, we ourselves must believe it. We must believe that the gospel is able to save sinners. The expression on the faces of the opposing ones is a lie. We must have the assurance that the gospel we are preaching can save even these opposers.]
B. Our Power—the Triune God as the Spirit
[Actually, our power is the Triune God as the Spirit. Do you not believe that the Triune God is with us? I believe that He is with me in my speaking. When I am about to minister, I usually pray, "Lord, vindicate the fact that You are one spirit with me. Lord, I want to practice being one spirit with You. Lord, make it real that in my speaking You are one spirit with me. Lord, speak Your word in my speaking." This is the way I pray before giving a message. Therefore, I believe that while I am speaking, He is one spirit with me and that He is speaking in my speaking. This is the real power.]
C. With Prayer, the Spirit, and Boldness
[When we speak the word of God, we have to speak it with boldness. In Acts 4:31 boldness is used for the speaking of the word of God. This boldness is very much related to the Spirit, and the Spirit is related to prayer. This one verse is comprised of these three things. While they were beseeching, that is, while they were asking, petitioning, or praying to God, they were filled economically and outwardly with the Spirit of power. Through their prayer they experienced the Spirit. With the Spirit they spoke the word of God with boldness. You can see that the speaking of God’s word here is involved in three things: prayer, the Spirit, and boldness. You could not have boldness without the Spirit, and you could not experience the Spirit without praying. Prayer brings us the Spirit, and the Spirit is the boldness. It is not only that the Spirit gives us boldness, but the Spirit Himself is the boldness. Sometimes we are timid because we are short of the Spirit. Because we are short of the Spirit, we do not have the boldness. Boldness always comes from the Spirit, and the Spirit comes from our prayer. These three things, prayer, the Spirit, and boldness, are all wrapped up with our speaking. We have to learn to pray that we may get the Spirit. Then we will have the boldness to speak the word of God.]
D. With a Deposit of the Living and Rich Word
[As Christians, we are witnesses of Christ. We should speak Him, making a habit of this. When you go to visit your aunt, forget about current events in the news and speak Christ to her. Build up such a habit. You have to believe that when you speak, the Holy Spirit always follows your speaking and honors your speaking, and people will be saved. Learn to speak the living word and learn to speak the rich word. Do not say, "Auntie, you have to believe in the Lord Jesus, otherwise you will go to hell." This kind of speaking will offend people. You have to learn to speak the rich Christ. Tell your aunt that five years ago you never knew how much the Lord Jesus is to you. Tell her by listing all the rich items of Christ. You may tell her, "Now I know Christ is God’s power and wisdom to me, and He is my righteousness, my sanctification, and my redemption."
If you are going to speak such a rich word you have to study 1 Corinthians 1. Learn to pick up the riches in the Word.] [You should not trust in some kind of inspiration. Suppose you have never learned English, yet you trust in spiritual inspiration to enable you to speak it. I assure you, you could be waiting until the Lord comes back, and you would still not be speaking English.]
If you cannot remember so much, you can simply read to her from the Recovery Version. Read some verses and read some of the rich footnotes that you have enjoyed. In fact, this is often better than your own speaking.
(Lesson Book, Level 3: Two Spirits—Two Spirits - the Divine Spirit and the Human Spirit, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee)
